All Entries in the "Environmentalism" Category
Where is the green worker?
Perhaps the most pernicious and pervasive gimmick of recent years is that of “green growth.” “We need not renounce our worldly goods,” we are told, “green is also good for business and millions of jobs will be created by putting technology at the service of a better environment.”
Tremendous news: but where are the jobs and [...]
End Game or Mid Term – Bonn
by Einar Du Rietz, Bonn
The game is not over yet, but the climate talks in Bonn are. For the time being. Another session is already scheduled for August, and it might very well be that the free-lunchers will squeeze yet another in, during the buildup of expectations before Cancun. After the enormous debacle before, during and [...]
At Least – Leave Those Kids Alone
by Einar Du Rietz, Bonn
I feel old sometimes. I’m not, according to my doctor, but I’m at least not “Youth”, as defined by the United Nations to be between the age of 15 and 24 (for the first three years in there, you also have the privilege of being “child” at the same time).
Couldn’t care [...]
Proper Precautions
by Einar Du Rietz
“Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups”, my former colleague, the environmental affairs director, liked to quote his favourite actor Steven Seagal as saying. It could be read as an argument for the precautionary principle of course, but it could also be interpreted as an argument for precaution against political action. There’s an [...]
Allègre con brio: last stance at the OK Corral
Former government minister Claude Allègre is once more to be hailed for fighting the “consensus”, as his recent book is high on the best-seller lists.
Yes, discussion is possible; no, scientific progress is not a matter of international voting to find the truth. (This would be comparable to letting the dictatorship countries vote on human [...]
Do No Harm – And No Alarm
by Einar Du Rietz
Unintended consequences are the curse and irony of politics. The recent study, ordered by the Swiss government, and published by the institute ITIS, on the possible electromagnetic radiation from low energy light bulbs, confirms this once again.
The radiation levels turned to be so high, that the Swiss government found it necessary to [...]
Nothing More than Broken Glass
by Einar Du Rietz, Bonn
It certainly is more solemn here, than in Copenhagen, as most people as this conference persist in pointing out. I’m not complaining, and neither is the local community which this time seems to be spared from closed off traffic and broken glass.
The latter is instead provided by some of the few [...]
For Lucy (should I find her)
The recent decision by the French government to scrap the CO2 tax was welcome news: it was from the outset mostly a complicated design to satisfy two major interests, quite removed from any environmental concern.
Lights On – Caviar Out
by Einar Du Rietz
The campaign is on again with expensive ad’s for Earth Hour, and local politicians have been forced for months to defend their decisions on shutting of the lights on central buildings, or not.
In the midst of the IPCC debacle, the activists and politicians pretend that shutting out the lights for one hour [...]
Wind Turbines No Friends to Eagles
Christopher Booker makes some excellent points about the toll wind turbines take on eagles and other birds in the Daily Telegraph. While wind turbines are known to knock birds (particularly soaring birds) from the sky, Mr. Booker should also take note of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Birds study which concluded that the [...]
Allègre vivace!
Claude Allègre is a courageous man, besides being a former government minister and a scientist. And unlike most public figures in France, he is not afraid to speak his mind on the climate issue.
His new book, L’imposture climatique is a more than welcome diatribe against the ecologically correct and constructivist establishment.
Someone Will Have to Pay Somehow
by Einar Du Rietz
Greenpeace International has now issued a statementsaying that they do not support the earlier demand by their UK chief that IPCC Chair, Dr Pachauri resigns. And besides, their executive director UK John Sauven was probably misunderstood by the Times. And in spite of the record cold winter, it’s hard to find snow [...]
You ain’t seen nothin yet
If you thought that the Copenhagen jamboree moderated the ambient hysteria, the following items may reassure you that worse is yet to come.
JACOB ARFWEDSON (Paris)
According to researchers at King’s College (London) future natural disasters are bound to increase strongly stress levels and anxiety among our fellow citizens. The authors did demand that these concerns be [...]
Merry Christmas my Polar Friends
A Christmas card from Einar Du Rietz, CFACT.EU
After the Copenhagen farce, it’s finally time for joy and for good news.
So let me, as a seasons greeting, send a small reminder about he situation for the cute polar beers.
According to, among others, the international WWF the population is currently around 22-25 000 individuals, a stable population [...]
Freezing Cold and Meltdown Treaty
by Einar Du Rietz, Copenhagen
Obama is on his way, and the COP 15 is nearing climax, or meltdown. The results so far are the same as we predicted. Close to 1 000 activists arrested, some beaten. Some professional hooligans, others bystanders. NGO’s kicked out of Bella Center as too many accreditations had been handed out. [...]
